Israel launched the last five attacks on the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) from bases in the US-occupied areas in northwestern Syria, an Iraqi intelligence source told the Middle East Eye on August 27.

The intelligence source added that Israeli drones were used in the attacks, claiming that Saudi Arabia is financing such operations.

“The drone attacks were launched from SDF [US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces] areas with the financing and backing of the Saudis,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Middle East Eye.

Saudi Minister of State for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan offered the SDF funds in return for their bases being used as a launchpad for the strikes, according to the source. Al-Sabhan visitied the SDF-held areas last June.

In the most recent attack, a commander of the PMU was assassinated in a drone strike near the al-Qa’im crossing on the border with Syria.

On August 24, Israeli warplanes bombed what the Israeli military described as ‘Iranian targets’ near the town of Aqraba south of the Syrian capital, Damascus. The Syrian air-defense forces intercepted several hostile missiles. However, the rest of them hit the target.

According to claims by the Israeli side, the targeted positions were used by the Qods Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated units to prepare an attack on Israel with several armed drones. The Israeli military also released a satellite image of the positions its warplanes struck claiming that the image shows Qods Force Operatives’ building and a weapons warehouse.

IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaee denied that any Iranian position was hit. However, Lebanese sources reported that two Hezbolalh members were killed by the airstrikes. They were identified as Hassan Yusuf al-Zabib from the town of Nmairiyeh in southern Lebanon and Yasser Ahmad Dahir from the town of Blida in the same region. Hassan Yusuf al-Zabib is reportedly the son of Yusuf al-Zabib, a key administrator in the Hezbollah-affiliated news channel al-Manar.

Early on August 25, an explosion rocked Beirut’s Southern Suburb, known as the stronghold of Hezbollah. According to initial reports, two Israeli drones crashed in the area. Later, Hezbollah clarified that the drones were rigged with explosives and attacked the group’s media center.

“The first drone fell without causing damage while the second one was laden with explosives and exploded causing huge damage to the media center,” Mohamed Afif, the group’s spokesman said adding that the inactive drone is in the Hezbollah hands now.

Later on the same day, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah made an official statement on the situation vowing to shoot down Israeli drones flying over Lebanon. Nasrallah also promised that Hezbollah will respond to recent Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, which killed two fighters of the Lebanese group.

These developments were followed by a mysterious airstrike on a convoy of the Iraqi Armed Forces’ Popular Mobilization Units (the part of the military often describe as Iranian proxies by US-Israeli media) near the Syrian border. The strike destroyed at least 3 vehicles and reportedly killed a PMU officer.

The recent increase of Israel military actions across the region accidentally came ahead of the election into Israel’s Knesset in September 2019. It seems that once again the current Israeli leadership is escalating the situation in the region to secure a local political victory.

This will finally lead to fulfilling Allah’s promise and the words of Imam Khamenei that this is the final battle which will end up in eliminating ‘Israel.’

Beirut – In the wake of indications that the United States and the Zionist ‘Israeli’ regime were involved in recent attacks on Iraqi positions of pro-government Popular Mobilization Units, Spokesman of Kata’ib Hezbollah or Hezbollah Brigades resistance group in Iraq Mohammad Mohie talked to al-Ahed News about the party’s stances regarding the field situation, warning the US of a tough response had it committed any future attack against the country.

Targeting Iraq’s Sovereignty

In an exclusive interview with al-Ahed news website, Mr. Mohie made clear that there is no doubt that the latest attacks that targeted Iraq weren’t accidental. “They were rather guided and preplanned after observation and continued monitoring by spy drones whether they are American or as the ‘Israeli’ entity claims that they belong to it,” he stressed.

In all, there are targets the US is standing behind and wants to achieve, which are represented by weakening the Popular Mobilization Units [Hashd al-Shaabi] and the resistance factions, end their role in running the security issue as part of the Iraqi security system, and empty their weapons stock perhaps for a future phase through which the US is planning to bring Daesh [the Arabic acronym for terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL’ group], as it always hints to the possibility of Daesh’s return with the presence of thousands of militants on the Iraqi-Syrian border, he further elaborated.

According to the Iraqi resistance official, all of the previous goals make the US aim unachievable without such practices. Additionally, the US is trying to fulfill its goal through the ‘Israeli’ entity so that it evades responsibility not to be dragged to reactions by Iraqi resistance factions. This is why ‘Israel’ always suggests being behind such strikes.

“What do we care for is not who carried out those strikes, whether it is ‘Israel’ or the United States, we hold the US the full responsibility of those strikes because it has the goals, the will and predetermination to confront the Hashd and exclude it from the Iraqi security equation.”

Conflicting Stances at Home

Responding to a question about the conflicting stances inside the Iraqi milieu, Mr. Mohie was confident to explain that there are many pressures exerted against the Iraqi political forces, the government and some Iraqi sides to prevent them from making decisive stances against the US presence on the first hand, and against those standing behind those strikes, which will consequently lead to condemning the US and demanding to oust it from Iraq.

“This would be difficult to be made due to the lack of will and courage to confront the US. Those pressures are banning the leaderships from taking a decisive stance that would clear things up,” he concluded on this matter.

Regarding the communication issue of the Anbar Operations Commander “Mahmoud al-Falahi”, the man stressed that the Iraqi government won’t be able to make a decision on the matter for clear reasons, because the decision will denounce the US and will consequently lead to heading to the Parliament for making a law that ousts the US, in addition to heading to the United Nations Security Council to denounce it.

“All of this won’t happen due to the lack of will among the political forces and the Iraqi government to reach this apparently difficult level of direct confrontation with the US and impose the Iraqi government and people’s will on it minding the necessity of ending its presence in Iraq.”

The Final Warning

By observing the conflicting reactions, which the man considers don’t suit the situation on the ground, the Hezbollah Brigades found them very weak and improper given the level of threat Iraq is being subjected to.

“There is an open war waged by the US and ‘Israel’ against Iraq, its security forces and the Hashd as well as other factions. There must have been strong stances against this open war.”

Perhaps the only strong and decisive statement was made by the PMU’s second-in-command Haj Abu Mahdi al-Muhandiss, Mr. Mohie explained, adding that the Hezbollah Brigades made their final warning to the US to make everything clear.

“To make the US face the reality, we should have issued this direct accusation since it bears responsibility, it controls the Iraqi bases, the Iraqi airspace, it directly cooperates with the ‘Israeli entity and stresses every time that its presence is to defend the security and existence of the ‘Israeli’ entity against the axis of resistance.”

He further added that it was the reason the resistance movement made this statement to test the US and all other parties that are trying to make use of the Iraqi situation to denounce the strikes against the Iraqi resistance factions and the Hashd.

“There might be future plots to target leaderships, national forces and symbols, and even the holy shrines to create sectarian strife and involve Iraq in new civil wars,” he warned.

The Hezbollah Brigades spokesman stressed that the final warning was meant to deter the US: “But today, we could not expect what would happen had all the Iraqi political forces and resistance factions and the Hashd remained silent in front of this terrible deterioration in confronting such challenges and continued aggression against Iraq’s sovereignty, security forces and the Hashd.”

We believe that the message has been clear to the US. The Americans understand the nature of Hezbollah Brigades and its response, and they have experienced it during the 2003 occupation. They have to take this statement seriously because there will consequently be a tough and true response to any future attack against any target of our security forces whether under an ‘Israeli’, American or other cover. At the end of the day, the US is responsible and will bear the brunt of any repercussions, the man stressed.

Iraq’s Official Stance

Regarding any possible official Iraqi response to the continued aggressions targeting Iraq’s sovereignty, Mr. Mohie was frank to say that the Hezbollah Brigades don’t believe that there is a possibility for it on the security forces level.

“Perhaps they would show that they will respond to any foreign strike whether ‘Israeli’ or not. However, confronting the US forces or responding to the ‘Israeli’ warplanes, I think it is unlikely in the time being as a result of the US pressure and fear of the American arrogance.”

He went on to say that “in fact, the Iraqi parties today are at a crossroad. Actually, they didn’t take advantage of the great achievement of confronting Daesh to be able to impose the equation of deterrence and strength and force the US to deal with Iraq as a similar state that has its own capabilities. The US attempted to return and control Iraq considering it a weak state. It brought its forces to control its security and airspace.”

Meanwhile, there isn’t any official Iraqi power capable of confronting the US military, and not even make a decision because they are willing to get involved in a confrontation amid the complicated circumstances in Iraq, Mr. Mohie concluded on this issue.

The Battle of New Front?

Whether we are facing the battle of new front, which is being talked about by the leaders of the axis of resistance, Mr. Mohie stressed that the battle is still ongoing and didn’t stop over years. “The conspiracy of Daesh was a clear front composed of the US, the ‘Israeli’ entity, Saudi Arabia and all other related forces that presented Daesh as a front in the face of the axis of resistance to divide the region. We faced this plot and foiled it. But this war is still ongoing and won’t stop.”

Perhaps it became clearer nowadays, he said, with the direct US hostility to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the axis of resistance, the Iraqi factions and the Hashd, in addition to the ‘Israeli’ entity’s involvement as a direct player whether in Syria strikes or its further expansion in targeting Iraq and declaring directly and indirectly that all fields are open to its strikes and aggression.

Hereby, the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades announced that “we are at a continued war with two poles: the first is represented by the global arrogance led by the US and ‘Israel’ and the second is led by the Islamic Republic of Iran, of which we are a part.”

The battle will continue until it reaches the final stage of pushing them to get involved in more foolishness with perhaps wider space of confrontation, Mr. Mohie said.

This will finally lead to fulfilling Allah’s promise and the words of our leaders and Imam Ali Khamenei that this is the final battle which will end up in eliminating ‘Israel,’ the resistance official concluded.

On the evening of July 28 the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the Tiger Forces and their allies renewed their advance on militant positions in northern Hama. In the ensuing series of clashes, government troops eliminated at least 5 units of military equipment belonging to militants and up to 10 members of militant groups.

By the evening of July 29, the SAA and its allies had established full control of the villages of Jibeen and Tell Meleh, and the nearby hilltop. The advance was supported by several dozens of Syrian and Russian airstrikes.

On July 30, government forces made a new attempt to capture the town of Kbanah which is jointly controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkistan Islamic Party. Pro-government sources claim that this advance was launched in the framework of a larger effort to pressure militants along the contact line creating a wider buffer zone, wide enough to prevent them from shelling civilian areas. Nonetheless, this attempt was as unsuccessful as the several previous ones made over the last few months.

The start of the SAA advance took place as a report by the Russian military appeared that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is deploying reinforcements to the southern part of the Idlib de-escalation zone.

The head of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operational Department Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi said on July 29 that around 300 fighters, 10 battle tanks and 20 vehicles armed with guns were employed by militants in the recent clashes in northern Hama. He added that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had redeployed 500 of its fighters from the northern part of the de-escalation zone to the frontline.

At the same time, the Russian military noted that U.S. forces are looting oil fields and farmlands in northeastern Syria.

“Syrian oil is extracted and sold from the fields of Conico, al-Omar and al-Tanak located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. There is a criminal scheme to transport Syrian oil across the border,” Col. Gen. Rudskoi said adding that the number of U.S. private military contractors deployed to secure this effort exceeded 3,500.

The US is also preparing militant sabotage groups that would be tasked with attacks on infrastructure to destabilize the situation in the government-held areas. These groups are being formed from around 2,700 members of Jaysh Maghawir al-Thawra and other militant groups trained by the US.

Israel has expanded its operations against ‘Iranian targets’ to Iraq employing F-35 jets, Asharq Al-Awsat, an Arabic-language newspaper published in London, reported on July 30 citing Western diplomatic sources.

According to the report, an Israeli F-35 warplane was behind a July 19 strike on a supposed rocket depot at the ‘Camp Ashraf’ military base of the Popular Mobilization Units. At the time the Saudi-based al-Arabiya network claimed that members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and Hezbollah had been killed in the strike. However, this claim was subsequently denied by Iraqi sources.

Based on the analysis prepared by Dennis M. Nilsen, PhD exclusively for SouthFront

The Qods Force is the irregular warfare unit of Iran’s Corps of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enghelab-e Eslami). Created during the Holy Defense to augment the capabilities of the Sepah to include irregular warfare, it has since become one of the chief means of expanding Iranian ‘soft power’ within the Middle East and throughout the world. Carrying the Persian name for Jerusalem, it is emblematic of the eschatological significance of the Islamic Republic’s regional military strategy. More has come to light about this secretive organization since its inception, but precious little of its organization, personnel, weaponry and operations is known, and comes to light only in the wake of its suspected activities.

The close of the Holy Defense in 1988 saw the completion of the first chapter of the history of the Islamic Republic – conventional war. The peace which followed left the new government intact but the population war-weary; the government needed to turn its attention to rebuilding the infrastructure and bringing orderliness to the disrupted lives of its people. The armed forces – both the Artesh and the Sepah – though rich with battle experience, had been worn down and desperately need this peace.

If this war taught the Iranian leadership anything, the lesson was: prevent another conventional attack by pushing the frontier for possible conflict as far as possible from the border. To safeguard the home of the Revolution – which Khomeini and his followers viewed, and still view, as the only legitimate Islamic government, and the one which is meant to prepare the way for the return of the Mahdi – a sizeable buffer had to be constructed to allow for its endurance. While Iran had not been defeated in the Holy Defense, it had been severely wounded by Saddam’s army with Western backing. At end of the war, Iran was in shortage in key resources and finance. The war clearly exposed the weaknesses of both the Iranian economy and the armed forces. The mujtahid rulers needed to create and perfect a national defense based upon self-reliance in order to turn Iran into a fortress for Islam from which calls for Islamic unity in the face of Zionist and Western imperialist influence could issue. Having survived this baptism of fire intact, and with geopolitics still centered around the bipolar contest between the United States and the Soviet Union, the time for such a reconstruction appeared optimal.

The Sepah was created immediately after the Revolution in order to counter threats from armed opposition groups inside Iran such as the MKO (the Mojahedin-e Khalq or People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran) and to protect the ideological integrity of the new political system. Originally a paramilitary formation, during the Holy Defense it necessarily took on a military character while shouldering with the Artesh the burden of fighting. During the war, in addition to the many conventional battles fought against the Iraqis, the Iranians also deployed special forces to the front line in the mountainous terrain of the north, and behind the lines to support the Kurdish struggle in northern Iraq against Saddam Hussein regime. To mirror this unit within the Artesh, the Sepah created the Qods Force to engage in all aspects of irregular warfare. Thus, the role of Quds force in the establishment of Hezbollah’s Islamic Resistance (al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya) in 1982 during the Lebanese Civil War was inevitable; following this it was used to support the operations of the Hezbe Wahdat Shia mujahedin in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation.

By supporting Hezbollah and the Hezbe Wahdat, Iran was able to counter, respectively, the American/Zionist coalition and the Soviets, thereby keeping these two groups from threatening the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic. When Khomeini died in 1989 and was succeeded by Ali Khamenei, who oversaw the transition from a war to a peace economy, Qods was able, along with its parent Sepah, to maintain its level of funding and even to increase its relative importance within the military strategy of Iran.

Having discussed the ideological and strategic origins and purposes of the Qods Force, let us look at its structure and methods of warfare. Apart from its three senior commanders, no names can be attributed to either its leadership or the remainder of the force. Major General Pasdar Qassem Soleimani, presently the most well-known Iranian soldier, has commanded the Qods Force since 1997, and his two deputies are Brigadier General Pasdar Ismail Qaani and Brigadier General Pasdar Ahmad Sabouri. Because all members of Qods are taken from the larger Sepah, one can presume that it retains the same rank structure as its parent, although it is impossible to verify or deny this. Similarly, although the size of the Qods Force can be approximated, its small-level tactical organization can only be guessed at based upon the arrangement of other comparable military units. As indicated previously, Qods has two missions: advising and training of foreign military and police, and clandestine operations. Teams of men for either type of mission may be formed ad hoc out of the service pools of each of the eight directorates suspected to exist. According to the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, Qods is divided into the following eight directorates:

Further, US military intelligence suggests that Qods is divided into several branches of specialization:

Intelligence

Finance

Politics

Sabotage

Special operations

Because however its operations are unconventional, there is no reason to think that the Qods Force has an organization remarkably different from other secret services. For its clandestine operations, something approaching a commando team of varying size (anywhere from 5 to 15 men led by one or two officers) seems reasonable. Also, there could be organic, permanent units of Qods assigned to each directorate, each with a different operational specialty, and these would invariably be combined-arms units but with the component men varying depending upon what needs to be accomplished. For the advisory and training missions, arguably what constitutes the greatest percentage of Qods assignments, one can imagine an officer/NCO structure corresponding to the level of the ranks needing training; e.g. so many officers of such a rank to train their peers or lower ranking officers, and likewise so many NCOs to train their peers or enlisted men. As a side note, it has been suggested that Qods trains most of its clients in either the Sudan or in Iran itself.

For all of these missions, the officer/NCO ratio is necessarily higher than in the rest of the Sepah. For this reason, it can be argued that officers and NCOs comprise a large majority of the Qods Force personnel, seeing that enlisted men would not be used to train or advise their superiors.

Where does the Qods Force carry out its clandestine operations? From reasonable conjecture regarding the structure, the reach of Qods is world-wide. It has been suspected of involvement in South America (e.g. in supporting the government of Venezuela), of continuing to intervene in Afghanistan against the American presence, of constituting a permanent training and advisory role to the Islamic Resistance of Hezbollah, of supporting the Syrian government since the conflict of 2011, and most of all of involvement in Iraq since 2003. Since 2008, the Qods Force has been given control of all military operations in Iraq, and it formed and currently oversees the three primary Shi’ite paramilitary organizations which work in conjunction with the Iraqi military: Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (“League of the Righteous”) with 10,000 members, Kata’ib Hizb Allah (“Brigades of the Party of God”) with 30,000+ members, and the Saraya al-Salam (“Peace Companies”) with anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 members. This theatre of operations, provided indirectly to Qods by the Americans, gives the most continual experience to its members through the training and directing of these militias. In the theatre of the Persian Gulf, the recent attacks against oil tankers bear the mark of what Qods is capable of, but the Iranian Government has consistently denied responsibility. Conversely, American and Israeli special forces possess the capability to carry out such false-flag attacks and their histories give plenty of examples. Currently, the most important missions which Qods directly or in which it participates are:

Missile shipments to Hezbollah

Arming and directing of Shi’ite militias in Iraq

Support of Syrian Government

Support of Houthis

As to types of weapons, the Qods Force probably uses the same species as other special forces (e.g. United States Green Berets, Russian Spetsnaz, British SAS), that is:

Handguns (e.g. PC-9 ZOAF)

submachine guns (e.g. MPT-9, KL-7.62mm)

heavy machine guns (e.g. MGA3)

portable MANPADs (e.g. Soheil)

rocket-propelled grenade launcher (e.g. Raad, RPG-29)

anti-tank weapons (e.g. Saeghe 1/2)

portable mortars (e.g. 37mm Marsh mortar)

plastic explosives (e.g. C4, Semtex)

The use of heavy equipment does not correspond to its missions.

In terms of size, the active personnel of Qods has been estimated to be anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000, although the most common number given is 15,000. Globalsecurity.org asserts that in 2008, the Iranian Supreme National Security Council authorized an increase in the size of the group to 15,000, but this cannot be presently confirmed. By comparison, the Russian Spetsnaz has a strength of roughly 5,000, the United States Green Berets 7,000, the British SAS 400 to 600.

Moving to consider its place in the Iranian political ideology of Twelve Shiism, Qods Force bears great eschatological significance. A fact which receives barely any coverage in the Western press, the founding of the Islamic Republic was clearly stated by Ayatollah Khomeini to coincide with the approach of the end of the world. As Twelver Shias, Khomeini and his successors are convinced that the maintenance of velayat-e faqih is critical to the return of the Twelfth Imam, Mohammad al-Mahdi. The eschatology of the Jafari School of Jurisprudence (the official legal teaching in Iran, named after the Sixth Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq) names Jerusalem as central to the return of the Mahdi and to the establishment of Islamic government throughout the world; i.e. the golden age of Islamic rule as promised by the Prophet Mohammed. According to Sunni and Shia prophecies, the army foreordained to conquer Jerusalem is to be comprised of mostly people from the region of Iran with Iranians having a great and important role in the event. Thus, the naming of the special operations subset of the Sepah after the Persian name for the Holy City of Jerusalem should show the rest of the world just how important to the Iranians is the maintenance of their system of government by all means possible. Currently, the use of Qods to engage in asymmetrical warfare against the American-Israeli alliance is the best means to ensure this end. Presently, Qods can be seen as forming a ‘shield-forward’ for the Islamic Republic from a strategic point of view; this gives eschatological importance to their continued support of Hezbollah in Lebanon and to their great commitment in men and material to ensure the continuance of the Syrian government. They believe that when Imam Mahdi returns, Zionism, which Shia regard as one of the main tools in the struggle between Good and Evil, will be defeated in the final great battle for Jerusalem. Therefore they are approaching as close as possible to Israel, serving at the front line. They have succeeded in giving Iran a reasonable amount of protection, if at the expense of their allies who are physically closer to Israel. The American Navy remains a threat in the Persian Gulf, but the wider Sepah, to whose vigilance this theatre is committed, are confident they can close the Strait of Hormuz if necessary. The strategic balance is currently in favor of Iran and they have thus fulfilled what they believe to be their role in preparing for the Mahdi’s return.

Of those who believe in the eschatological purpose of the Islamic Republic, the Qods Force is unquestionably the vanguard of the coming march on Jerusalem, and the Western press ignores this to their own peril and the continued ignorance of their audiences.

From military and political standpoints, Qods has been very effective. Iranian strategy has, since the 1979 Revolution, been to keep the American-Israeli alliance and its proxies at bay. As stated previously, due to Iran’s inability to wage a full-scale war against both countries, the use of unconventional warfare has made the Qods Force come into prominence within Iran’s national defensive strategy. Through both its advisory/training roles and its clandestine operations, Qods is used to prevent Iran’s two chief enemies from realizing strategic objectives in the Middle East and Persian Gulf and to make their continued presence within Iran’s immediate zone of security as costly and unpleasant as possible.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraq’s Hezbollah popular group released a series of audio files revealing phone talks and Whatsapp chats between a senior Iraqi officer in al-Anbar province and the US spy agency, CIA, against Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi (popular forces).

The audio files disclosed contacts between Mahmoud al-Falahi, the commander of al-Anbar operations in the Iraqi army, with a CIA agent who is an Iraqi national.

The CIA agent asked al-Falahi to provide him with the geographical coordinates of the existing military bases at the borders between Iraq and Syria “to be attacked by the US and Israeli air forces”.

He also told al-Falahi to meet with “the US army and intelligence service commanders in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan region or at the US forces’ base in al-Habaniyeh” in Western Iraq.

During the conversations, al-Falahi provided the detailed coordinates of military bases in al-Anbar to the agent.

Hezbollah described the audio files as documents showing al-Falahi’s “plot against the Iraqi army, security, Hashd al-Shaabi and resistance forces “, warning that his spying for the CIA and Israeli Mossad spy agencies has endangered Iran’s national security.

Iraqi security sources disclosed in 2016 that Washington was exerting pressure on the Baghdad government to end Hashd al-Shaabi’s partnership in war against ISIL and dissolve the militia army that has the lion share in the war on terrorism in the country.

“The US government has conveyed the message to the Iraqi government through its diplomats that there is no need to Hashd al-Shaabi forces and their role should come to an end,” a senior Iraqi source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told FNA at the time.

A senior member of the Iraqi parliament revealed last month the US plots and attempts to dissolve Hashd al-Shaabi with pressures on Iraq’s government after the popular forces regained control over Iraq’s borders with Syria.

The Arabic-language al-Ma’aloumeh news website quoted Odai Awad as saying that the US was pressuring Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to force him act against Hashd al-Shaabi.

He referred to the US embassy’s contacts with the ISIL commanders, and said certain regions in Iraq are showing allegiance to the ISIL again in a way that a number of Iraqi security commanders have compared the situation to the situation in 2014.

Awad said that the US pressures started after Hashd al-Shaabi forces retook control over the Iraqi-Syrian borders, adding that at present, some measures are being adopted against Hashd al-Shaabi on the political and international scene in a bid to disturb the public opinion in freed areas.